Transcript Evolution and Emotions

Emotions Defined II
Class 5
Class Business
PowerPoint Before Class, even if not final version? YES
Quiz/Test Prep: Use PowerPoints as guide; then readings,
class notes:
http://nwkpsych.rutgers.edu/~kharber/emotions/
Syllabus Updates – Next class
"Flat Face" Social Experiment. Anybody do this?
Facial Expression of Emotion: Duchene Smile
Duchene Smile: Genuine, real, non-fake smile.
Which is the Duchene (genuine) smile, A or B?
A
B
Fake smile
Duchene smile
Fake: Zygomatic (mouth) muscles only
Duchene: Zygomatic (mouth) + orbicularis oculi (eyes)
What comes first, thinking or feeling?
Appraisal Theory: Thinking comes first
Example: Wake in panic, it’s 8:30, you have a 9:00 AM class,
then you realize—it’s Saturday.
New thought (“Saturday”) new emotion?
Relief
Separate Systems Theory: Emotions can come first
Example: Your cousin say’s her new husband is great, she's
so happy. He's so funny and silly especially after 4-5 whiskey
and waters. You hang up, no problem. Then you feel unease.
Why? How many whiskeys?
Thinking First vs. Feeling First
tied to
William James
Walter Cannon
General Arousal vs. Specific Emotion
James: Every emotion tied to distinct body state,
Cannon-Bard: Central Nervous System model of emotions.
1. Emotions produced by brain, not body.
2. Same body change (high vs. low arousal) for all emotions.
3. Brain "labels" arousal as different emotions.
Schachter & Singer Theory of Emotion
Emotion is arousal + cognition
Stanley Schachter
Fits generally with Cannon-Bard Central Systems Theory
Emotion only occurs if:
a. Body is aroused
b. A reason for arousal is located
c. The labeling of arousal determines emotion
d. Arousal w/o cognition leads to no emotion
Schachter and Singer Model of Emotions
Love,
Jason
Love,
Clark
Social / Environmental information
Because you’re special!
Emotionproducing event
Flowers Delivered
+
Emotion
Affection
Terror
Neutral
Physiological
Response
Schachter & Singer Experiment (1962)
1. Subject told study concerns effect of new vitamin
2. Given an injection:
a. Epinephrine (epi) or Placebo (saline)
b. Told that shot is arousing (informed) or not told (uninformed)
3. Told to wait in room, fill out survey
4. Also in room is confederate (poses as another subject)
a. Confed either very happy or very angry
5. Question: What emotion will the subject feel?
Results of Schachter & Singer
Confederate’s Behavior
Happy
Angry
Neutral
Subject’s state
Epi, uninformed
Happy
Angry
Afraid
Epi, informed
Neutral
Neutral
Neutral
Placebo, uninformed
Neutral
Neutral
Neutral
Placebo, informed
Neutral
Neutral
Neutral
Insomnia and the Attribution Process
Storms and Nisbett, 1970
Richard
Nisbett
Idea: Would shifting explanation for night-time nervousness from
anxious thoughts to a pill lead reduce insomnia?
Why would this happen? How is this related to Schachter & Singer?
Study Design
Subjects: 42 insomniacs at Yale, all given placebo, but told:
"Arousing Drug Cond" "This drug....will increase your heart
rate and...body temp., You may feel like your mind is racing. ..."
"Relaxing Drug Cond" "This drug...will lower your heart
rate...body tem. And it will calm your mind ... "
Which condition will sleep better? Why?
X
"Arousing" Drug
"Relaxing" Drug
Storms & Nisbett Study Results
Minutes to Falling Asleep
Separate Systems Approach to Emotions
a. Affective reactions are primary
b. Affect is basic
Robert Zajonc
1923-2008
c. Affect is inescapable
d. Affective reactions tend to be irrevocable, in contrast to
cognitive judgments
e. Affect implicates the self: cognitive judgments center on
features of objects.
f. Emotions are not always verbalizable
g. Affective reactions don't always depend on thinking
h. Affective reactions can be separated from content knowledge
"Circumstantial" Evidence for
Separate Systems Theory of Emotions
1. Physiological:
Amygdala
a. Hemisphere Specificity: Emotional expressions flashed
to R hemi. recalled better than to L hemi.
b. Amygdala -- direct link to sensorium, bypasses cortex
2. Developmental: Infants "know" emotions from birth.
3. Cross cultural: All cultures "know" same emotions.
4. Evolutionary: Emotion system existed long before neo-cortex
Zajonc “Mere Exposure” Experiment
X
X
Subjects see many cards showing a Chinese character.
Some cards shown repeatedly, others shown only once.
After viewing many cards, subjects asked:
MEMORY
ACCURACY
a. Which cards did were shown repeatedly?
At chance level
b. Which cards they like the most.
Better than chance
Mere Exposure Study Main Point
Things seen repeatedly are safe.
We like safe things.
Liking becomes an emotional memory for repeated
exposure. Even when conscious memory fails us.
“Preferences” (liking/not liking) “need no inferences”
(conscious judgments and evaluations).
Role of Body in Emotion, and
Thinking 1st vs. Feeling 1st Debate
If emotions can, sometimes, come first, then emotions should
show up in bodily arousal.
Also, if emotions come first, each emotion should be distinct,
rather than “general arousal” shaped by thinking.
Therefore, locating emotions in body would support
Separate Systems approach.
James’s Peripheral Theory of Emotion
1. Emotions are, literally, feelings.
2. Every emotion accompanied by corresponding change in
bodily sensation.
3. Emotions are the sensation of what is going on in the body,
arise from the body.
4. Therefore, each emotion is physiologically distinct.
5. Contrast to Cannon-Bard theory – emotions arise in brain,
not body. All emotions are basically arousal + cognition.
Testing James’ Peripheral Theory
If emotions require sensation from the body, what
group of people might show reduced emotions?
Spinal cord injured. Less feeling in body,
therefore (per James) less emotion.
Hohmann (1966): Spinal cord injured (SCI) report less
sexual arousal, less fear, less anger.
Bermond (1991): No general loss of emotion.
Research problems?
Memory-based research; age;
injury  emotional numbing
Robt. Zajonc Blood-flow Theory
a. Changing bodily state  change in emotion
b. Face is primary source of emotional change
* Umlaut study
* Pencil-in-mouth study
* Face-pose study and
picture judgments
(Larson et al., 1992)
Sad | | | | | Happy
Ekman's Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
and Emotion Generation
Ekman, et al.: Facial Poses and
Emotional Arousal
Facial Pose
Heart Rate
Galvanic Skin
Response
Happy
Low
XXXX
Disgust
Low
XXXX
Surprise
Low
XXXX
Sadness
High
Low
Anger
High
High
Fear
High
High
So, Are Emotions Distinct?
Cacioppo et al. (1993) conduct a major review
of many studies on emotion and bodily change.
Jury is still out, results too conflicted.
Example: 10 comparisons of happiness and
anger, 5 show differences, 5 do not.
Separate Systems Hypothesis:
Lang, 1985
1. Cognitive/verbal: Awareness
2. Body/physiological: Arousal
3. Behavioral/expressive: Expression
Modes of Emotional Experience:
Unified or Independent?
Unified model: [Cognitive and Physiological and
Expressive] aspects of emotions must co-occur
Independent model: Cognitive or Physiological or
Expressive aspects can occur in any combination
Possible Combinations of
Emotional Features as Independent
Awareness
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
Expression
Y
Y
N
N
Y
N
Y
Bodily
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Arousal
Emotions and the Human Dilemma
We know enough to know we don’t know enough.
We need to act in order to survive
Acting requires making choices
Best choices based on complete information
We rarely have complete information
Yet we must chose anyway
Emotions:
1. Help us set priorities
2. Give us cues to action when we lack vital
information
Emotions as Orienting Device:
The Phineas Gage Story
Gage a railroad foreman
Blasts out prefrontal lobes with tamping tool
Survives injury, but
Behavior radically changed:
Can’t plan
Impulsive, short tempered, terrible social judgment
Other studies of frontal lobe damage show same pattern:
emotional blunting + poor planning + obsess on details
Prefrontal Damage Sustained by Phineas Gage
Thinking and Emotions
Emotions shift direction of thought:
Mental radar (Herbert Simon, 1967).
Herbert Simon
Emotions are thought-interrupters
Emotions focus attention on emotion-relevant things
Emotions focus attention on un-solved problems
BUT: Emotions can also be changed by changes in
thinking (in line with Appraisal Theory).